Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to information processing apparatuses and information processing methods for controlling a device by software.
Description of the Related Art
For release of an updated software version to upgrade a function of the software or to improve the software, a method has been known which overwrites an old version with the upgraded version of software by keeping its name. As a result of such software overwrite, it may not easy to use for users who have been accustomed to the operability of the old version of the software in some cases.
On the other hand, in some other cases, some versions of software may not be overwritten with a new version due to restrictions of a communication protocol between operating systems (hereinafter, called OSs) or programs. For example, communication protocols for scanners may include TWAIN (Technology Without An Interesting Name) and WIA (Windows (registered trademark) Image Acquisition). A need may rise for changing software supporting TWAIN protocol so as to support WIA protocol instead. However, TWAIN and WIA protocols may not implement an exactly same function. Accordingly, instead of updating a software version by overwriting, the software may be provided as a different piece of software by changing its name, for example. In this case, the old version of software and the new version of software may coexist on an OS. Furthermore, when new and old versions of software are configured for device control, there may be a case where the new and old versions of software may be capable of controlling one device.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293377 proposes a method in an environment where two pieces of software coexist on an OS for constructing information regarding versions and identifiers of programs as a configuration file and automatically switching to a program of a version corresponding to a calling program with reference to the configuration file.
However, a “sandbox” technology may be used in some recent OSs, and software supporting the sandbox may not be allowed to refer to a setting file for other pieces of software. The “sandbox” technology may prevent a system from being invalidly operated for providing higher security. Software supporting the sandbox is restricted to operate within a protected region in a system and is not allowed to access a setting file for other pieces of software. In this way, software supporting the sandbox is not allowed to refer to settings for other pieces of software, like the conventional technology described above. A sandbox environment may further make it difficult to construct information regarding a plurality of programs as one configuration file as in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293377.